​PODOLIA, a government of south-western Russia, having
Volhynia on the N., Kiev and Kherson on the E. and S., Bessarabia
on the S.W., and Galicia (Austria) on the W., from which
it is separated by the Zbrucz, or Rodvocha, a tributary of the
Dniester. It has an area of 16,219 sq. m., extending for 200 m.
from N.W. to S.E. on the left bank of the Dniester. In the
same direction the government is traversed by two ranges of
hills separated by the Bug, ramifications of the Avratynsk heights.
These hills nowhere exceed an elevation of 1185 ft. Two large
rivers, which numerous tributaries, drain the government—the
Dniester, which forms its boundary with Bessarabia and is
navigable throughout its length, and the Bug, which flows almost
parallel to the former in a higher, sometimes swampy, valley,
and is interrupted at several places by rapids. The Dniester is
an important channel for trade, corn, spirits and timber being
exported from Mogilev, Kalus, Zhvanets, Porog and other
Podolian river-ports. The rapid smaller tributaries of the
Dniester supply numerous Hour-mills with motive power. The
soil is almost throughout “black earth,” and Podolia is one of
the most fertile governments of Russia. Forests cover nearly
15% of the total area Marshes occur only beside the Bug.
The climate is moderate, the average temperature of the year at
Kamenets being 48.3° (24.5° in January, 69° in July).

The estimated population in 1906 was 3,543,700. It consists
chiefly of Little Russians, Poles (31/2 %), and Jews (12 %). There
are besides a few Armenians, some Germans, and 50,000 Moldavians
There are many Nonconformists (18,000) among the
Russians, Tulchin being the seat of their bishops and a centre of
propaganda. After Moscow, Podolia is the most densely inhabited
government of Russia outside Poland. It is divided
into twelve districts, the chief towns of which are Kamenets-Podolskiy,
the capital, Balta, Bratslav, Gaisin, Letichev, Litin,
Mogilev-on-Dniester, Novaya-Ushitsa, Olgopol, Proskurov,
Vinnitsa and Yampol. The chief occupations of the people are
agriculture and gardening. The principal crops are wheat, rye,
oats, barley, maize, hemp, flax, potatoes, beetroot and tobacco.
Podolia is famous for its cherries and] mulberries, its melons,
gourds and cucumbers. Nearly 67,000 gallons of wine are
obtained annually. Large numbers of horses, cattle and sheep
are bred, the cattle being famous. Bee-keeping is an important
industry. Sugar factories, distilleries, flour-mills, woollen mills,
tanneries, potteries, tobacco factories, breweries, candle and soap
factories, have an annual output valued at £4,000,000. An
active trade is carried on with Austria, especially through the
Isakovets and Gusyatin custom-houses, corn, cattle, horses,
skins, wool, linseed and hemp seed being exported, in exchange
for wooden wares, linen, woollen stuffs, cotton, glass and agricultural
implements. The trade with the interior is also carried
on very briskly, especially at the twenty-six fairs, the chief of
which are Balta and Yarmolintsy Podolia is traversed by a
railway which runs parallel to the Dniester, from Lemberg to
Odessa, and has two branch lines, to Kiev (from Zhmerinka)
and to Poltava (from Balta).

History.—The country has been inhabited since the beginning
of the Neolithic period. Herodotus mentions it as the seat of the
Graeco-Scythian Alazones and the Scythian Neuri, who were
followed by the Dacians and the Getae The Romans left traces
of their rule in the Wall of Trajan, which stretches through the
modern districts of Kamenets, Ushitsa and Proskurov. During
the great migrations many nationalities passed through this
territory, or settled within it for some time, leaving traces in
numerous archaeological remains. Nestor mentions that the
Bujanes and Dulebes occupied the Bug, while the Tivertsi and
Ugliches, apparently all four Slav tribes, were settled on the
Dniester. These peoples were conquered by the Avars in the
7th century. Oleg, prince of Kiev, extended his rule over this
territory—the Ponizie, or “lowlands,” which became later a part
of the principalities of Volhynia, Kiev and Galicia. In the 13th
century the Ponizie was plundered by the Mongols; a hundred
years afterwards Olgierd, prince of Lithuania, freed it from their
rule, annexing it to his own territories under the name of Podolia,
a word which has the same meaning as Ponizie. After the death
(1430) of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, Podolia was annexed to
Poland, with the exception of its eastern part, the province of
Bratslav, which remained under Lithuania until its union
(1501) with Poland. The Poles retained Podolia until the
third division of their country in 1793, when it was taken by
Russia. (P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)